Coast to Coast

Awards tout leagues, companies Nearly a dozen companies were recognized
Jan. 26 for leadership and innovation in sports business. The winners
of the second annual Horizon Awards were Sportvision (Sports Technology
of the Year), SportsLine.com (Sports Impact Partnership of the Year
and Sports Web Site of the Year), the NFL (Sports League Web Site of
the Year and Sports League/Association of the Year), NFL Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue (Sports Business Executive of the Year), UPS Inc. (Sports-Theme
Advertising Campaign of the Year), ESPN (Sports Media Company of the
Year). The Horizon Awards are given by the Atlanta Sports Council.

CHARLOTTE

Shinn already bragging
That stings: Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn is already crowing
over a proposed relocation to New Orleans. According to The Times-Picayune
of New Orleans, he told a group of Crescent City business and political
leaders that he's adamant about leaving Charlotte behind. "If you want
me to come back to Charlotte, you can kiss my grits," Shinn said in
a fit of diplomacy.

Speedway to move seats
Lowe's Motor Speedway will remove the first two rows of seats on the
front stretch — 1,200 in all — to protect fans from flying
debris. The track will also widen entrance walkways, doubling the size
in time for May races. The projects will cost $1.5 million. The moves
are part of an emphasis on safety since the death of three spectators
at the track during a 1999 IRL race.

Heels offered look at glory days
For weary Tar Heels fans suffering through an atypically miserable ACC
hoops season, producer Rick Willenzik offers relief. Willenzik's Much
More Media has released "Jerseys in the Rafters: Carolina's Greatest
Stars," a highlight film of UNC stars Michael Jordan, Phil Ford, James
Worthy, Antawn Jamison and more. The video sells for $19.95, the DVD
$22.95. Details: jerseysintherafters.com.

CHICAGO

White Sox ready to play The Chicago White Sox planned to launch
the club's 2002 advertising campaign Sunday, inviting fans and players
alike to "Come Ready to Play" at Comiskey Park this summer. The print
and radio spots were designed by Hoffman York & Reilly of Chicago.
Television spots are scheduled to begin in March. "The idea for this
year's campaign comes from a conversation with White Sox manager Jerry
Manuel," said Tom Reilly of Hoffman York & Reilly. "When we asked
about the team's approach in 2002, Manuel said, 'We need to take this
to the next level through our intensity and our enthusiasm. When teams
come to our park, they had better be ready to play.' That's a great
team theme for the White Sox."

CINCINNATI

Season-ticket sales jump Although the team didn't provide details,
the Cincinnati Reds said they saw a jump in season-ticket requests at
Great American Ball Park after the Reds announced ticket prices for
the park, which will open at the beginning of the 2003 season. The Reds
kept ticket prices at the new park lower than many people had expected,
from $5 to $170, with most seats below $25.

DALLAS

HDNet gets Olympics deal HDNet, a Dallas television network
that broadcasts exclusively in high-definition format, will carry some
taped events from the Winter Olympics under a deal with NBC. Financial
terms weren't disclosed. HDNet, which is run by Dallas Mavericks owner
Mark Cuban, will run replays of the opening and closing ceremonies and
four sporting events: figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating and
ski jumping. HDNet is carried on channel 199 of DirecTV.

DENVER

Old Mile High catches fire A fire broke out Jan. 26 at the old
Mile High Stadium, which is being demolished. A spark from a cutting
torch caused the fire, which destroyed a section about 100 feet square.
Fighting the fire proved challenging; the automatic sprinkler system
already had been removed. Firefighters spent an hour extinguishing the
blaze.

DETROIT

Red Wings link with Griffins The Detroit Red Wings, who have been
without a minor league affiliate of their own for three seasons, signed
a five-year deal with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey
League. For the last three seasons, the Red Wings' best prospects have
played for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Anaheim's AHL affiliate, while
others were placed with various teams in several leagues. The Griffins,
in the last year of an affiliation agreement with the Ottawa Senators,
expect to gain a greater regional following as a Red Wings farm team
from cities like Lansing, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Holland and Battle Creek,
all within an hour's drive.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.

Sports Authority to remodel stores The Sports Authority plans to remodel
33 stores this year and all 198 outlets within the next three years.
CEO Martin Hanaka called many of the stores "old and tired." The company
said it believes the move will boost sales.

HOUSTON

Astros switch to Tickets.com The Houston Astros are putting the
finishing touches on a six-month computer conversion that will shift
the team's individual ticket sales from Ticketmaster to rival Tickets.com.
The move is part of an exclusive arrangement between Major League Baseball
and Tickets.com, which went into effect last year and will eventually
make tickets available on each team's Web site. When individual tickets
go on sale Thursday for Astros games, fans will be able to buy at www.astros.com
or by calling a new toll-free phone number — 877-9-ASTROS. As
always, tickets will be on sale at the Astros' Enron Field box office.
But they will no longer be available at Ticketmaster outlets.

INDIANAPOLIS

Attendance drop could cost Purdue As the on-court performance of the
Purdue University men's basketball team has slipped, so have its fortunes
at the ticket office. During the 1990s, Purdue sold out the 14,123-seat
Mackey Arena for about 16 home games a season. But after the Boilermakers'
on-court performance started to decline during the 1999-2000 season,
attendance also started to slide. During that year, average attendance
at Mackey Arena dropped to 13,857. It fell the next season to 11,958,
and even further this year, to 11,404. With the loss of ticket, parking
and concession revenue, Purdue athletic department officials said the
drop in attendance — if it stays at its current level —
will cost the school about $500,000.

JACKSONVILLE

Golf Management gets new course Golf Management Inc. of Jacksonville
was tapped to oversee operations at Maryland National Golf Club, an
Arthur Hills-designed championship course slated to open in July. GMI
named golf management veteran Michael McGillicuddy general manager of
Maryland National, located near Frederick, Md.

KANSAS CITY

Knights hope to boost attendance Kansas City Knights owner Jim Clark
hopes to boost the ABA team's average attendance to 3,000 a game by
the end of the season and double that number next season. The team drew
2,437 fans, its second-largest crowd of the season, on Jan. 25 to its
first "$5 for Friday" promotion, which sells lower-level seats behind
each goal for $5. The team also is staging giveaways.

MIAMI

Dolphins checking into playoff ticket sales Miami Dolphins officials plan to question
season-ticket holders to find out why nearly 22,000 seats bought by
season-ticket holders during the regular season weren't purchased for
the playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.

MILWAUKEE

ScheerGame hired for Georgia arena project
ScheerGame Sports Development of Milwaukee was hired to create a development
plan for a sports and entertainment arena proposed for Augusta, Ga.
A group of businessmen, city officials and other local government leaders
want to build a 10,000- to 12,000-seat facility. ScheerGame will work
with business leaders, the city of Augusta and public sector administrators
from several neighboring Georgia and South Carolina cities and counties
to develop a plan for what could be a $75 million project.

Hank Aaron featured on Wheaties
Baseball hall of famer Hank Aaron will be featured on a special-edition
Black History Month Wheaties package this month. The boxes will be available
nationwide. This marks the second time that Aaron will appear on the
box. In 1970, he was pictured with Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench
and professional golfer Tom Weiskopf. Aaron, who holds baseball's all-time
record with 755 career home runs, played in the Braves organization
in Milwaukee and Atlanta from 1954 to 1974.

MINNEAPOLIS

Wild opens season-ticket campaign
The Minnesota Wild has opened its season-ticket campaign for the 2002-03
season. The team has more than 16,000 season-ticket holders and 2,100
people on its waiting list. The "Warming House" waiting list will be
capped at 4,500. To get on the waiting list, fans pay a $100 deposit
for each ticket. They get priority for tickets when spots open up. Last
year, more than 500 people on the waiting list got season tickets.

Statue honors Mikan, hook shot
A life-sized statue honoring former Minneapolis Lakers great George
Mikan was installed Jan. 26 in the main lobby of the Target Center.
Mikan was honored with the statue by the Minnesota Timberwolves last
year during a "Celebration at Center Court." The statue shows Mikan
taking his famous hook shot.

Wizards game breaks attendance record
The attendance of 20,320 for the Minnesota Timberwolves game against
the Washington Wizards at Target Center on Martin Luther King Day broke
the team's previous record of 20,214. The previous record was set Feb.
16, 1996, when the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls played in Minneapolis.
Scalpers were asking $700 for tickets, according to media reports.

NEW YORK

NYRR sponsors college invitational As part of its yearlong sponsorship
of track events, the New York Road Runners will be title sponsor of
the New York Road Runners Collegiate Invitational at the Armory in upper
Manhattan on Friday and Saturday. The two-day meet with 50 teams is
the largest indoor collegiate meet in the country. The NYRR stages and
owns the New York City Marathon.

OAKLAND

Raiders' Gruden on the way out
Jon Gruden will honor the final year of his contract as head coach of
the Oakland Raiders but won't return after next season. Gruden, 38,
joined the team in 1998 and has coached the Raiders to back-to-back
AFC divisional titles. But, the San Francisco Chronicle said, his potential
salary demands and power could make Raiders owner Al Davis uncomfortable.
Gruden said in his season-ending news conference Jan. 21 that he would
not sign another contract with Oakland.

Card case set for Feb. 27 hearing
An Alameda County Superior Court judge will hear arguments Feb. 27 in
a lawsuit against sports card manufacturers. The case, filed last August
in Oakland, centers on card makers' "insert cards," special sets randomly
slipped into packs of regular card sets. Opponents of inserts say card
makers such as Carlsbad, Calif.-based Upper Deck Co. commit fraud by
selling packs with insert cards and are in violation of state and federal
anti-gambling laws and state consumer laws. On the back of packs of
regular card sets, card makers print the odds of buying a pack with
an insert card.

ORLANDO

Braves invade Disney for spring training For the fifth consecutive year, the
Atlanta Braves are making the trek to Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports
for spring training. The training season begins Feb. 15, with an exhibition
game against the University of Georgia Bulldogs Feb. 28 and the first
major league spring training game against the Florida Marlins March
1. Disney hopes attendance at this year's spring training season will
bounce back from 2001's low figures. Bad weather and three rained-out
games made for empty bleachers last year.

PHILADELPHIA

Eagles sell out suites, plan more
Philadelphia Eagles have sold all 125 suites in their new $512 million
stadium, scheduled to open before the 2003 season, and now are planning
to add an undisclosed number of additional suites at the facility. When
designing the 66,000-seat stadium, the Eagles included the flexibility
to add more suites if they so desired. The average price for the suites
was in the $120,000 to $140,000 range. Eagles officials also said the
demand for the top-priced seat licenses, called stadium builder licenses,
exceeded the supply. The team is now offering lower-priced licenses
to season-ticket holders who didn't get their first choice of the best
seats in the new stadium. About 40 percent of the seats in the new stadium
carry license fees ranging from $1,530 to $3,145.

Aramark's Red Sox stake: $50M
Aramark, a Philadelphia-based concessionaire and facilities manager,
expects to receive after-tax cash proceeds of $50 million for selling
its minority stake in the Boston Red Sox to New England Sports Ventures
LLC. Although never one of the top potential buyers for the franchise,
Aramark was among those groups that had their applications to bid for
the Boston Red Sox approved by Major League Baseball last year. Clients
of Aramark's food services division include 70 sports stadiums and arenas.

SAN DIEGO

Lawsuit dismissal puts ballpark on track
The latest lawsuit holding up construction on the downtown ballpark
was dismissed by a judge Jan. 28, giving the Padres renewed hope that
they can open the 2004 season in their new home. After Judge Frederic
L. Link denied a continuance to the plaintiffs in the case, retired
law professor Robert Simmons and his attorney, Stanley Zubel, walked
out of the courtroom, complaining they were not given enough time to
prepare. After about 30 minutes, Link announced that "I have to make
decisions. It's fish or cut bait. Mr. Simmons is gone and his complaint
is gone." Link also dismissed the allegations of tax preparer Gardner
Osborne, who joined the suit as an "interested party" on Jan. 25. The
ruling means the city will be able to sell $166 million in bonds by
mid-February and resume ballpark construction as early as March, city
officials said. "To say the judge was unfair is too mild," Simmons told
the San Diego Union-Tribune. "My rights as a citizen, plaintiff and
taxpayer have just been trashed."

Spirit launching billboard campaign
The San Diego Spirit of the Women's United Soccer Association will begin
its new billboard ad campaign in February throughout San Diego County.
The ads, designed in-house by marketing manager Paige Jackson, will
appear over San Diego highways in February through April. The billboard
ads will coincide with the team's marketing push in newspapers, magazines
and an infomercial.

SAN JOSE

XpressBet licensed to accept phone wagers The California Horse Racing Board
has granted licenses to XpressBet, owned by Magna Entertainment and
Television Games Network, to accept wagers over the telephone. Magna
also owns Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows horse tracks in the San
Francisco Bay area and the Santa Anita track in Southern California.
TVG owns a horse-racing broadcasting and wager channel that is offered
on some cable outlets. Separate advance deposits are required for betting
on either system. Some state horse-racing advocates were hoping the
racing board would establish a single deposit system that would work
for all telephone and Internet betting systems.

SEATTLE

Mariners' ticket sales up Tickets sales to the Seattle Mariners'
games are brisk. With Opening Day still two months away, the Mariners
have sold 21,404 season tickets, up nearly 10 percent from last year's
record of 19,700. The defending American League West champions have
seen a 96 percent renewal rate for existing season-ticket holders. Sales
of the team's weekend ticket package, which includes tickets to all
games on Friday through Sunday and Opening Day, have increased by 50
percent, the team said. Box seats and infield terrace club seats are
sold out.

SONOMA, CALIF.

Raceway tunnels finished Construction work is complete on two
underground pedestrian tunnels at Sears Point Raceway, and both will
be operational for the 2002 main-event season. The tunnels, part of
Sears Point Raceway's $50 million modernization plan, will expedite
pedestrian traffic flow around the property during major events.

ST. LOUIS

Retailers work late to cash in on Rams The Rams victory Jan. 28 kept local
retailers working late. The May Department Stores' Famous-Barr unit
here kept six of its stores open until 9 p.m. to sell Rams NFC Championship
merchandise. Dillard's kept four stores open to capitalize on requests
for Rams fleeces, long-sleeve T-shirts, short-sleeve T-shirts and hats,
said Mark Gastman, vice president of marketing and sales promotion for
Dillard's Inc. Gastman said Dillard's purchased a limited amount of
NFC Championship merchandise on a risk the Rams would win.